Although students and staff in the Holbrook Unified School District have completed half the school year, planning ahead to determine what is working in the best interests of those students is key to success and, according to Superintendent Robbie Koerperich, an important aspect of educational success in the modern age is the implementation of technology.
Dr. Koerperich closely observes education and career trends, and knows that this is key to creating global competitors in the workforce but it’s also something that requires a careful approach.
“We want to integrate as much technology as we can into our daily practices, but only once we have sound instructional practices to accompany the technology,” he explained, adding that the district will continue to emphasize science, technology, engineering and math at all levels.
The district is also partnering with Northland Pioneer College to provide additional college and career readiness coursework.
“We hope to increase our dual enrollment course offerings through our TALON (Technology to Advance Learning Outcomes). This distant learning technology program allows our high school students to take dual enrollment courses to attain college credits in high school,” Koerperich continued. “College teachers teach the course through distant learning. The high school has an interactive classroom that allows the lessons to stream live so students listen to lessons and interact with college-level instructors. We feel this is a great avenue to help prepare our students for college and Career Readiness Skills.”
He believes another important facet to the success of students in and out of the classroom is parent involvement. “One of our goals is to implement more authentic parental involvement strategies. We know parents naturally want the best possible educational outcomes for their children,” Koerperich commented. “Traditional parental involvement activities such as two nights a year for parent teacher conferences may not be the most authentic strategy for parental involvement.”
He explained that the district is working toward a new system for developing students pathways towards success through the PASS system (Personal, Academic, Social Success). “We hope to build electronic portfolios for all students to help track their growth, and monitor the aspirations of both the students and the parents, Pre-K through 12th grade, to ensure our district is providing the opportunities for long-term success for all students.”
In creating a strong learning environment the district will also continue to emphasize the importance of a healthy lifestyle. “We will continue to promote a Healthy Holbrook with the addition of the Don’t Quit Fitness Center. We feel this is a valuable resource for our students and staff to maintain their personal health,” said Koerperich.
The district is also looking at expanding its food service offerings to provide a wider array of food service programs for the students. “Our Community Eligibility Provision program allows all students to eat breakfast and lunch for free; therefore, we want to make sure we continue to offer a high quality food service program. We are also looking into a summer breakfast and lunch program beginning this summer,” he noted.
As far as capital projects, the district plans to move its technology department to a new location to allow for expansion and efficiency in it. The existing facility to the west of the bus barn is being refurbished into a new technology center. “The advancement of technology in our district warrants more space to care for the technology and operations involved with technology. Most other capital projects will be upkeep and maintenance type projects, as we have received little to no capital funding from the state the past few years,” Koerperich explained.
One area that has been a challenge for all schools in the area is finding and retaining quality teachers. “We are understaffed by 10 teachers at this time. It is important that we offer high quality education programs and a competitive salary and benefits package to ensure our students have the highest quality staff we can offer,” he said.
“We will continue to focus on high quality education programs to help our students become who they are capable of becoming. HUSD exceeds the state high school graduation rates in all categories, including male, female, Hispanic, Native American, White and Special Education. We want to continue to build programs and educational systems to help every child become college and/or career ready upon graduating from HUSD.
“HUSD is a very special place to educate our students. We have wonderful support from our parents, businesses and communities. We will continue to focus on utilizing diversity as our strength, employing high quality staff, and focusing on efficient and effective uses of our financial resources to help our communities become the best they can be. We are currently planning a Native American Education Summit sometime in the second semester, as well as planning a ‘bring your business to school day’ in which we will invite local businesses to learn more about our school system, as well as help us learn more about ways we can prepare our students for the world of work.
“We are very fortunate to have strong support from the communities that make up Holbrook School District. We hope to continue building strong relationships within our commun
